


HiddenDreamer67's February Prompts 2020

by GilbyJuly4th



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:14:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 29
Words: 10,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22569214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GilbyJuly4th/pseuds/GilbyJuly4th
Summary: From HiddenDreamer67's writing prompts on Tumblrhttps://hiddendreamer67.tumblr.com/post/190422284210/open-to-anyone-and-everyone-for-inspiration-to
Comments: 3
Kudos: 12





	1. Ideal/Ignore

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HiddenDreamer67](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenDreamer67/gifts).



> Here’s some backstory before the events thus far in Not All Heroes Wear Capes….

Roman had a really good year. He understudied Hamlet at an Equity summer stock playhouse that let him get union points. He was upgraded to a principal in a national commercial, which got him a SAG-AFTRA waiver. He also filmed a professional web series with 8 episodes where he played the lead detective solving murder mysteries. 

Professionally, this meant his career was gaining traction.

Personally, this meant he could finally move out on his own.

It wasn’t that he didn’t love his family, but he’d be lying if he had to say that coming home straight after college wasn’t disappointing. While Roman was beloved in his university’s theatre department, he never forgot he was there on a scholarship. His friends could move to New York and Los Angeles to pursue their dreams, but they did so with significant financial assistance from their wealthier parents. Roman didn’t have that luxury. 

So back to Florida he went, to the same bedroom he spent his childhood in. He got a part time job at a restaurant. He insisted on paying rent to his madre because he felt it was the least he could do after she had raised him and his twin by herself. He’d make self tapes for film work and would drive hours to Orlando and Tampa for the major open auditions that only hit those cities. 

It was the way it had to be. The actor had stars in his eyes, but he lived on Planet Earth. He knew the lyrics of Sondheim well: Wishes come true, not free. 

Well, he worked his ass off, and now he had the means to move on.

When his director for Hamlet, Larry, told Roman that his neighbors were looking for a 4th roommate, it seemed too ideal to ignore…


	2. Deaf/Dare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometime between Chapters 5 & 6 of Not All Heroes Wear Capes

Roman: Virgil, truth or dare?

Virgil: Nope.

Roman: C’mon, please?

Virgil: Fine, dare.

Roman: I dare you to say anything as loudly as you can.

Virgil: Ok…“anything as loudly as you can.”

Roman: Seriously?

Virgil: You’d be deaf, and that’s the truth. Game over.


	3. Bribe/Bite

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Movie Night: Grease)

Patton: Who wouldn’t want a hot dog?

Roman: What’s that, padre?

Patton: That hot dog Rizzo just talked about sounds delicious.

(Virgil snorts gatorade through his nose and gets it all over himself)

Patton: Hold up kiddo, I’ll go get some napkins!

(Patton exits)

Roman: Hey Apple Watch, I’d give you 5 jars of Crofters if you tell him what that joke really means.

Logan: Figuratively bite me.

Roman: With relish?

Virgil (choking): Guys stop, this isn’t how I want to die…


	4. Promise/Paranoid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before the events of Not All Heroes Wear Capes

(Roman’s watching cartoons on the couch. Patton enters the living room.)

Patton: Hey Roman, have you seen Virgil?

Roman: He’s holed up in his bat cave. Why, what’s up?

Patton: Oh, I promised Logan I’d swiffer the kitchen before he came back from his classes, but he left the sheets on the high shelf again.

Roman: Do you want me to get them for you?

Patton: That’s ok kiddo, it’s the really high shelf.

Roman: But Patton, what’s the difference?

Patton: What do you mean?

Roman: Stormageddon and I are the same height.

Patton:…

Roman: You ok, padre?

Patton: I’m always ok! You know what, the kitchen looks so great, I’m sure Logan won’t even notice!

(He exits immediately, running up the stairs)

(Virgil emerges)

Roman: Hey Brad Pitiful, did you give your paranoid persona to Patton?

Virgil: What are you babbling about?

Roman: I don’t even know, can you check on him?

(Virgil pulls out his phone and starts texting)

Roman: You know the stairs are like two steps to your right, right?

(Virgil reads the responding text: “ _Can we please tell him??? And can you grab the swiffer sheets from the high shelf? xX **X** ”_)

Roman: Is he ok?

Virgil: Yep

Roman: Do you know why he’s hiding?

Virgil: Yep

Roman: Care to share?

Virgil: Nope and…

(He texts Patton back)

Virgil: …“ _nope_ ”.

(He quickly returns to his lair)

Roman: Seriously, what just happened?


	5. Lamb/Leap

(The boys are still watching Grease)

“We go together like rama lama lama ka dinga da dinga dong”

Logan: Do these lyrics mean anything?

Roman: Sure, ram and lamb are both sheep.

Logan: And is ka dinga da dinga dong something I’m supposed to know?

Patton: Well Logan, rams have to have ding dongs.

Everyone: …

Patton: How else are the shepherds supposed to find them without the bells around their necks?

Virgil:…that’s a pretty, uh, big leap, Pat.

Roman: Somebody’s gotta tell him!


	6. Early/Echo

Virgil spent his early life quiet and small. He grew up in small spaces and his body seemed to adapt accordingly. 

One of his earliest memories was of his mother shushing him. As an adult, he understood why; the walls of their first tiny apartment were paper thin, every sound seemed magnified and unacceptable. At least that’s what the next door neighbors kept inherently saying in their own way, with banging fists and shouting voices. But as a child, he just did what mommy told him. 

He didn’t say his first word out loud until he was three. 

And when he did, it scared mommy, because of the echo.

So, Virgil didn’t find his voice for a long time. And even now, after all the speech pathology and therapy, after finding a great group of friends, and maybe even the possibility of love, Virgil still couldn’t completely shake his nervous habit of covering up his mouth.

Because nothing made him feel worse than scaring the people he loved.


	7. Yeti/Yellow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A different movie night, this time it’s Monsters Inc

(The Yeti offers Mike and Sulley yellow snow cones, claiming they are lemon flavored)

Logan: I know lemons are originally indigenous to the Himalayas, but it’s a bit of a stretch that he’d be able to acquire them during a blizzard like that.

Roman: That’s not the joke, Teach.

Logan: I don’t get it.

(Patton starts crying)

Virgil: You ok there, buddy?

Patton: WHY ARE THEY FIGHTING?! THEY HAVE TO SAVE BOO!!!

Logan:…uh, Roman, can you…?

Roman: Alright Mr Boohoo, bring it in!

(Patton goes in for the hug and Roman holds onto him)

Virgil (whispering): …it’s pee, Lo-

Logan: UGH GROSS!


	8. Closed/Capture

Logan was tested frequently as a child. His parents were professors at a private university and even as a baby they seemed to perform informal social experiments on him. How long would it take for the infant to stop crying? He wasn’t attended to until he was silent. Was hugging an essential part of early development? The infant was only supplied with the most essential physical interaction. Logan learned very young that if he wanted something, it was more efficient to capture it himself. And his parents were most pleased when he moved things without touching them. 

When Logan was a little older, the tests stopped being just from his mother and father. At first, they were limited to the university campus. Fellow professors and graduate students were friendly, many giving him more affection than his biological caretakers. Dr. Brooke Dixon would reward him with Peanut Butter and Crofters Jelly sandwiches. Liz Berry the intern would read him chapters from Alice and Wonderland. Most of the tests they and the others had him do were games and puzzles. It was an unusual introduction to education, but Logan learned early on that ‘school’ was where he was happiest.

Then the university funding for the program ran out, and Logan’s parents sent him to new facilities. Government facilities. These were cold and closed off. Logan was no longer treated as a prodigy, but a subject. A subject who was poked, podded, and hurt. The grown ups who were supposed to look after him either didn’t know or couldn’t afford to care. 

It went on this way for far too long, until Liz Berry the intern became Liz Berry the supervisor. She recognized the boy that was once that sweet special baby from her university days. She not only threatened to call child services, but to expose all her old notebooks and files on the ethically questionable experimentation to the media. Her threats to the former were not empty, Logan was indeed finally taken from his negligent parents.  
The road to adoption took longer than anticipated, because in spite of her academic credentials, the state of Florida was not horribly willing to let any single woman adopt on her own. But Liz was a fighter, and after a year of fostering, Logan [redacted] became Logan Berry.


	9. Garden/Gentle

Patton was absolutely not allowed to ever cook anything in the kitchen without adult supervision again after The Great Fire Threat of 2018.

Nonetheless, he contributed to meal preparation in his own way. 

His Aunt Patty loved to go “junking” (as she would say) and she was a passionate consumer of flea markets and thrift stores. Once on a whim of her “just happened to be in the neighborhood” day trips, she showed her Pat Pat recent pickings from an estate sale. 

Now Aunt Patty may not have had Patton’s special abilities, but she knew the look of a young gentleman’s eyes lighting up at something metal with wheels. Her nephew had immediately spotted the patina wheelbarrow and he didn’t have to say two words more. It was her gift to him for no other reason than it was a Sunday and it was obviously meant to be.

Patton converted that rusty old wheelbarrow into an herb garden. He did have to drill some holes in the bottom for drainage, but that was a closely guarded secret from Logan and Virgil. He didn’t want them to worry, and after all, he never got hurt anyway.

With the minor modifications in place, Patton started by growing basil for Logan’s pasta and lavender for Virgil’s nerves. After Roman joined their home, he made space for parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme to honor the singer. Roman got the joke as soon as Patton told him and was utterly delighted. 

So even though Patton’s chef skills were limited to the relative safety of reheating things in the microwave, he never felt left out of making dinner special for his kiddos. 

After all, what good is a meal without the spices!


	10. Manners/Muzzle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place before the events of ‘Not All Heroes Wear Capes’

“For a guy whose last name is Prince, you think he’d have better manners” Virgil thought to himself.

He knew it’d take some getting used to not having the ground floor of the house to himself anymore, but within just one week, his new roommate was already starting to get on his nerves. 

For one thing, the dude had no regular shower schedule. It wasn’t like he ever just did a quick rinse off either. Oh no. Princey’s shortest showers would clock in at around 45 mins, and they always seemed to happen right around the time Virgil desperately needed to go to the bathroom. Sure, he could go upstairs to use Patton and Logan’s bathroom, but that wasn’t the point. He wanted his bathroom, the one with his stuff in it, the one he had to himself for a little over a year, but now he was forced to cohabitate. 

On top of everything else, Roman insisted on doing his weird ass vocal warm ups while he was in there. Seriously, sometimes it sounded like a tortured animal was wailing for its life to end. 

Virgil hated direct confrontation, but enough was enough. Frankly, Virgil’s headphones and patience could only take so much more of the vowel scales and falsetto screeches. Today was the day he was finally going to bang on the bathroom door and tell the stuck up dickweed to shut up. He raised his fist to do so, but then he heard Roman actually do something that resembled real singing:

“Well, I’m thwarted by a metaphysic puzzle

And I’m sick of grading papers, that I know”

Wait, was that from Rent? 

“I’m shouting in my sleep, I need a muzzle

And all this misery pays no salary, soooooo”

Virgil heard the singer riff a light melisma that was both skilled and seemingly effortless. 

“Let’s open up a restaurant in Santa Fe

Sunny Santa Fe would be nice”

When Roman actually put lyrics to his caterwauling, he sounded good. Damn good. Like, “gave an emo some goosebumps” good.

“We’ll open up a restaurant in Santa Fe

And leave this to the roaches and mice”

This was definitely from Rent. It was Collins’ song from Act One and Virgil loved the next part in particular; the oh’s!

Roman riffed off the original just a little, but not enough to deviate from the main melody. His voice was strong and smooth and full and bright and gorgeous and Virgil found himself involuntarily clapping.

“Thank you, thank you, you’re too kind! Don’t forget to tip your drag queens!”

Ok, that was the obnoxious Roman he’d gotten to know this last week. However, to Virgil’s surprise, he heard the shower head turn off. Had Roman taken a shorter shower than normal, or had more time passed than he thought? Was he so lost in the thespian’s voice that he lost track of the time? Regardless, the door handle turned to open. 

…fuck…

Roman had his towel wrapped around his waist, his very defined and broad top half still sopping wet and shiny. 

“Anything I can do for you, my fellow Compulsive Bowler?” 

Compulsive Bowler?!

Just when he didn’t think his new roommate could make Virgil feel any more flustered, Roman referred to him with the most diehard RentHead fan greeting possible. Virgil swallowed very deliberately; his vocal distortion was NOT going to be making a cameo appearance just because this theatre geek was pushing his very specific buttons. 

“We need to talk,” Virgil managed to grumble, feeling heat rushing to his face, “I can’t keep waiting for your showtune shower sessions to stop.”

“Ah, I see” Roman responded, with far less of a fight than Virgil expected, “You have my deepest apologies, Virgil. I really do lose track of all things when I’m in the zone.”

“Well, zone out less and share more!” Virgil snapped. His hands went to cover his mouth, instinctively worried about his tone. There was still no distortion, not yet, anyway, but he couldn’t be too careful. Also, what he said was way harsher than what he had intended. 

Roman looked crestfallen, but nodded at his new roommate in earnest. He understood. He was still figuring out what the boundaries were in his new home. His mom and brother had dealt with his singing exercises for years and his college roommate was also a theater major. He hadn’t anticipated his warm ups being a learning curve, but looking at the tense nervous man in front of him, it made perfect sense. 

Virgil saw Roman’s demeanor change, like he was trying to make himself look smaller for him. That just wasn’t fair. Someone this perfect shouldn’t be compassionate as well! Virgil’s emotional capacity was too full as it was. A smoking hottie in his house who sang Jonathan Larson songs and was actually a nice guy?! He literally couldn’t handle it anymore. He turned on his heels to head back to his bat cave.

“Virgil?”

The soft shy voice he heard from Roman was such a sharp contrast from the Broadway belting Virgil had just experienced moments ago. The gloomy goth turned his head to look back at the actor.

“Was it good? Did I sound good?”

There was none of Roman’s usual bravado to be found. Only an honest question from a man bearing his soul as naked as his freshly showered chest.

“It was beautiful,” Virgil answered sincerely, all traces of anger and agitation gone. 

However, something started bubbling inside the emo. Whether it was gay panic or a surprise surge of his powers, he didn’t know and he didn’t care. 

Whatever it was, it made him bolt to his room, leaving the actor still dripping in the hallway, alone and confused.


	11. Nails/Nuzzle

(Virgil is coloring his nails with a sharpie in the living room)

Roman: What are you doing?

Virgil: Um, I’m gay?

Roman: It’s worse than I thought!

(Roman exits and returns with a lucite box full of polishes)

Roman: I can’t let you live your life like this any longer! Pick one to keep, I insist!

Virgil: Why do you have so many?

Roman: Show leftovers. This one’s from Rocky Horror, I was in the ensemble, can you believe it? This one was for Zanna Don’t, which was a real mind twist because I was playing a straight guy pretending to be gay and um, hello! These ten are from Joseph, because I wasn’t going to settle for just a Technicolor Dreamcoat. This black one was for Cats (pause) We don’t talk about Cats.

Virgil: Yea don’t tell Patton, he might ask for a reenactment nuzzle or something (pause) Can I really have it?

Roman: Please do, it still haunts me.


	12. Accident/Abandon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place before the events of “Not All Heroes Wear Capes”

(Roman interviewing for the open room in the Patton, Logan, and Virgil’s house)

Roman: So, how did you guys all meet?

Patton: Oh it’s a funny story! Um, oh, how do I explain it…

(A glass breaks in the kitchen)

Logan: My apologies gentlemen, I’ve had a small accident. Patton, perhaps you’d better take our guest to his potential room while I clean up here.

Patton: Sure thing, bud! C’mon Roman, lemme show you around!

(Patton and Roman exit, the previous topic of conversation abandoned)

Virgil: Really? That was the best you could come up with, Teach?

Logan: I panicked, ok?!

Virgil: Logan, breathe! Panicking’s my thing.


	13. Venom/Vacant

(Logan is lesson planning at the table, Virgil is reading a textbook on the floor, and Patton is knitting on the couch)

(Roman comes inside through the back door after doing Pilates exercises in the yard) 

Roman: Hey Logan, is there a difference between venom and poison?

Logan: In Animalia, it’s essentially about the method of delivery. Venom has to be injected by bites or stings whereas poison is the release of toxins through excretion.

Roman: And not all snakes are venomous if they bite you, right?

Logan: Precisely, only approximately 20% of snake bites are actually venomous because of how much energy is required of the reptile to activate the venom from behind its eye ducts. (Pause) Why do you ask?

Roman: I just found a snake in Patton herb garden and when I vacated it from the premises, it bit me.

Virgil: Why the hell didn’t you start with that?!

Patton: Where’s the bite, I can fix it!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Deceit, who's she?


	14. Shelter/Survive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s movie night, the boys are watching Beauty and the Beast

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “...But then, one winter's night,  
> An old beggar woman came to the castle  
> And offered him a single rose In return for shelter from the bitter cold…”

Logan: Wait, does this movie mean to say that because an eleven year old boy didn’t let a stranger into his house, he and his caretakers are cursed to ten years of a magical transformation?

Roman: Logan, please, don’t read too much into it.

Virgil: He’s got a point there, Princey. Was he really being selfish or what he just using basic survival skills because he’s a literal child?

Patton: Was he a kiddo? He looked like a grown up in the stained glass windows.

Roman: Guys, we’re going to miss one of the greatest opening numbers in the history of the Disney canon!

Logan: It’s entirely possible that the original glassworks artisan aged him up so to speak to represent the power he possessed within his realm. We also don’t know how the enchantress really was in her beggar form hunched over.

(The movie stops)

Virgil: Really Ro? This is where you draw the line?

Roman: I swear on Walt’s ashes, we are not doing this tonight. Not with this movie. Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin are off limits

Virgil: Don’t you mean Walt’s frozen corpse?

Logan: Oh no, Virgil, Roman's allusion is accurate, Walt Disney actually was cremated and his ashes are interred-

(The DVD stops playing. Roman ejects the disc and places it back in its case and walks back to his bedroom. We hear a door slam)

Patton:...there goes the baker with his tray like always...


	15. Regal/Raw

Roman was Regal. Remus was Raw.

Brothers they were. Identical? Naw.

Roman fought for truth, justice, and all things more gay.

Remus fought for himself and his right to play.

Roman had more friends than fingers on hand,

Remus, just one friend who could understand.

Remus could read anything in a mind

But Roman defended his twin unrefined.

Could you yourself handle every unfiltered thought?

Roman knew this:

His brother could not.


	16. Height/Horde

In anthropology, a horde describes a small loosely knit social group, typically consisting of five families. Well, these men represented four, and their heights could provide an interesting study. 

At 6’2”, Logan was the tallest in their household. He was small and scrawny as a child, but after being adopted as a pre-teen, his growth spurt during adolescence seemed to compensate for lost time. Truth be told, Logan was the tallest not accounting for Virgil’s power surges, which his roommate never shared the exact maximum number. Frankly, Virgil didn’t know himself, and that was a terrifying thought to contend with alone. So whenever asked, he just shrugged, because that was the safest answer.

Virgil and Roman were both 5’10”, and although they shared heights, they did not share body types. Virgil was slimmer and Roman was built. Both of these traits could be positive or negative. When Virgil was really stressed, he lost his appetite and sometimes would go a couple of days of simply forgetting to eat. He’d remember when his medication started messing with his stomach, because he was supposed to take his pills with food. Maybe it subconsciously had something to do with wanting to be smaller… 

Roman worked very hard on his body. Pilates, weight training, swimming, dance classes, all of these were part of his self induced program. Roman struggled with his appearance, and it didn’t help that he had gone into a profession that was image based first, talent based second. Even as a toddler, he knew the way the adults were able to tell him and his twin apart was because he was “the chunky one”. Kids don’t forget comments like that, whether they’re true or not. They stick around for years and have to be dealt with in therapy later. Roman decided as a teenager that if he was going to be big, he was going to be big on his terms; buff and broad like a Marvel actor, but graceful and fluid like Gene Kelly. Meanwhile, Remus could eat like an absolute trash rat and still be skinny, the bastard.

Patton was 5’4”, the smallest of the housemates by far, and his body type could best be described as huggable. What broke his heart was that the one person he wanted to hug more than anyone else was untouchable. And he just happened to be the tallest person living in his house…


	17. Obey/Oasis

(Roman is outside the downstairs bathroom, patiently awaiting his turn.) **  
**

(Virgil comes out absolutely sopping wet, bare chested, his purple bangs dripping haphazardly over his face.)

Virgil: Tag, you’re it. (He winks)

(Roman’s eyes follow Virgil’s sauntering exit to his bedroom.)

Patton: Do you want to obey your thirst?

Roman: WHAT?! 

Patton: I have one more Sprite in the fridge, Roman. Do you want it?

Roman: Uh, not now padre, I’m about to take a shower, so…

(Roman can’t get in the bathroom fast enough and locks the door behind him.)

(Patton walks back into the living room. Logan is on his laptop on the couch.)

Logan: Thank you for your assistance, Patton.

Patton: Sure! Still not sure why you wanted me to say that, buddy.

Logan: Just a little field research in linguistics.

(Logan’s screen is open to a research paper he’s working on:

 **“Thirst” as a noun is no longer limited to the lack or need of necessary liquids to consume (i.e. one being lost in a desert without signs of an oasis), but also appears to have morphed its usage through modern pop culture to be equally synonymous with “lust” and/or “desire”. In this corpus study, I will examine…** )


	18. Trial/Trust

This was it. The finalization hearing. The trial that would determine the rest of his life.

The eleven year old wore a long sleeve black dress shirt, his favorite blue tie, and navy suit pants. He originally had on the suit jacket as well, but the extra layer of polyester fabric felt too restricting. He quietly inquired to his caretaker if the lack of the coordinating top would make him look unkempt in front of the judge. Liz understood what Logan was really asking, and gave him full permission to rip that sucker off and leave it in the car. 

“I’m the one they’re really judging, not you, Lolo. I promise it’s ok.”

Liz, as the giver of that particular nickname, was the only one whom he let use it. It was an old holdover from when she used to watch him as a toddler, and she respected his requests to say it sparingly. Her choice to use the diminutive moniker now, while it was just the two of them in the privacy of the vehicle, let the super serious boy trust that she was speaking the truth. 

“You ready?” she asked once he folded the outwear and placed it carefully on the floor of the backseat area.

“I believe I am as ready as I will ever be,” the boy admitted, and opened his passenger side door. 

After closing it, he noticed the other door was still locked.

He looked back through the glass at Liz’ unmoving figure.

He crossed over the front of the car to tap on her window.

“Liz, is there something wrong?”

There was a pause, and then her window rolled down.

A couple of tears ran down her face as well.

“Oh no, feelings,” Logan thought to himself in a panic. He wasn’t good with them, in himself or others. 

Maybe she had changed her mind?

“Liz, if I said something amiss, I sincerely apologize,” he started, ignoring the crack his voice let out, “I can put the jacket back on, it was a minor inconvenience, I assure you.”

She shook her head.

“No, Logan, I’m sorry, I’m just...having an involuntary emotional reaction,” her own voice hitched, but she knew the boy deserved as much clarity as possible. So many adults had lied to him throughout his life, she was not going to be another one.

“I’m feeling this way because I’m afraid I’m not going to be a good enough mother for you.”

“FALSEHOOD!” the boy shrieked, shocking the woman enough that her tears stopped almost instantaneously.

“You already are a great mother and have been for the last year I have been fostered in your care! Certainly a better mother than the woman who gave birth to me was ever capable of being!”

“Logan, volume,” Liz said gingerly.

“See! You are disciplining just like a birth mother should!” he continued, but lowered his voice appropriately, “The only thing that will be different after today is that you are going to be officially recognized as my legal guardian,” he paused, “No matter what the judge says, Liz, you will always be my family.”

The woman seated in the car looked up at the young man standing outside her door. He had grown up too fast. There were things that were done to him he still couldn’t talk about, and probably never would. In spite of it all, here he was, trying to comfort her.

“...Are you ready now?” 

“I am,” she replied with no further hesitation.

“May I?” Logan asked timidly. She knew what he meant, so she nodded.

The car’s lock popped up and the driver’s door opened. No one else was in the parking lot, so Liz had let Logan use his telekinesis. What she didn’t expect was for Lolo, who was so sensitive to physical touch, to roll down his sleeve cuffs over his hands and help her stand up. 

She was so proud of him.

“Let’s go make you a Berry, baby!” Liz declared, gently pushing Logan’s oversized glasses back up his nose.

“Ugh, MOM, no!” Logan mimicked the voice of a whiny teenager, but let a smile soften his face.

It was the first time he called her that, and even if it was initiated in jest, it felt good to finally say it out loud.


	19. Warmth/Waste

Roman: So guys, why isn’t Patton allowed to cook?

_**...One Year Ago…** _

(Patton is cooking in the kitchen by himself. Logan and Virgil come home after carpooling to college)

Virgil: Why does it smell like bacon?

(Virgil goes into the kitchen to see…)

Virgil: HOLY SHIT PATTON YOU’RE ON FIRE!!!

Patton: Well gosh, kiddo, you’re pretty lit yourself!

(Logan enters and sees…)

Logan: No Patton, you are literally on fire!!!

________

Roman: Patton, you didn’t feel it happen?!

Patton: Well, I remember it got warmer, but we do live in Florida, am I right? I just felt bad that I scared these two so much. And that I wasted food.

Virgil: There are some things you can’t unsee, dude

(Logan doesn’t correct him, and simply nods solemnly)


	20. String/Shadow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Moments before the flashback in "Virgil's Inferno"  
> Please check the trigger warnings at the end

Patton realized just a little too late that if he was going to continue knitting, he’d have to stop before the string he was working on ran out. Unfortunately, the matching skein was in the living room downstairs. **  
**

He glanced at his Mickey Mouse alarm clock. It was just past 2:30am, very late for the little empath. He had heard Roman come home very late, and just couldn’t fall back asleep. After tossing and turning, he finally turned on his bedside lamp and grabbed the yarn from his nightstand drawer. The repetitive motion was soothing as he felt of the soft material grooving into some kind of creation. But if he wanted that creation to be larger than a potholder, he was going to have to get more wool to work with.

He quietly opened his bedroom door and tried tiptoeing past Logan’s room down the hallway to the descending steps. He carefully put the dimmers on low before walking to the corner of the couch. Sure enough, there was his yarn basket. Unfortunately, after some light digging, he couldn’t find a matching color. Then he had an idea; with Christmas just a few weeks away, may he could make Logan a Doctor Who scarf! The Doctor with the curly hair had a multicolor long one he could work on, but what was the pattern? He’d have to go back upstairs for his cellphone to check…

That’s when he felt it: Anguish?

Coming from Virgil’s bedroom?

Patton stood up to look towards the downstairs hallway. Virgil’s door was slightly ajar and the light was on. The empath quickly scampered toward the light, unaware of a long dark shadow growing the closer he got. He made sure to keep his voice soft so as not to startle his friend. If anguish was really what Virgil was feeling, Patton needed to be as comforting as possible. 

“Hey, kiddo, whatcha up to?”

What happened next happened fast.

Virgil had something small and shiny that slipped.

When he caught it, crimson started dripping from his hand.

Patton cried out in horror.

At the sound of his smallest roommate’s shout, Logan (who was already half awake after Patton crossed his door) jumped out of bed and down the stairs himself. 

“Gentlemen, it is 2:40 in the morning! Would you please-”

The tallest roommate stopped. Or rather the normally tallest roommate stopped. 

Virgil all but filled up his entire bedroom, and there was blood everywhere.

Logan was completely aghast and Patton was overwhelmed with pain, both Virgil’s and his own at seeing what his friend had done.

The giant slammed his door and locked it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings:  
> Blood  
> Cutting  
> Implied Attempted Suicide


	21. Quit/Quick

(Virgil and Roman are multi-playing “Injustice: Gods Among Us” on the living room tv)

(Virgil’s playing as Batman and Roman’s playing as Superman, while Logan’s watching)

Virgil: Quit while you’re ahead, Princey!

Roman: Never!

Logan: Virgil, hit him with the car!

Roman: Logan, you traitor!

(Batman hits Superman with the car and wins the round)

(They all hear Patton’s car pull up in the driveway)

Virgil: Quick, he’s back!

(Logan runs to sit at the table to open his laptop. Virgil sprawls on the couch, puts his headphones on and starts watching a YouTube video on his smartphone. Roman pulls out his Uke from seemingly nowhere and starts strumming lightly)

Patton: Hey kiddos, what’re you up to?

The others: Nothing!

Patton:…you guys know I know you’re lying right?

Logan: They were playing a video game!

Virgil: Logan, you snitch!


	22. Heart/Half

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Poem on Patton Hart

The housemate who was the most small

May have the greatest gift of them all

He lived up to his name

Without fortune or fame

But how far for his friends would he fall?

He never did anything half

He always completed his path

Though his heart often broke

He’d do whatever it took

And put them at ease with a laugh


	23. Jump/Jealous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another movie night in our boys’ house…

Patton: Hey kiddos, what’re we watching tonight?

Roman: How about Jump In!

Virgil: The Corbin Bleu movie about him ditching boxing to double dutch? Hard pass, Princey.

Roman: What about Smart House?

Patton: Oh Logan, you’d like that one! It’s about a boy who wins a computer house that takes care of his family.

Logan: You mean Disney predicted a dystopian future and foresaw how Alexa would play a part?

Patton: …Not…really?

Virgil: Damn Teach, that was bleak even for me.

Logan: Does it have to be a Disney film? Could we perhaps instead watch an episode of Planet Earth 2?

Roman: Dude, you’re not actually supposed to fall asleep at a slumber party!

Virgil: Um, what about Tower of Terror?

Roman: …Disney, slightly spooky, and, small spoiler, there’s a scene at the end with some time travel….

Patton: Sounds perfect for everyone!

Roman: Logan? 

Logan: Satisfactory.

Roman: Ugh, I left my DVD at my beloved mother’s abode!

Virgil: I have it.

(pause)

Virgil: Jealous?

Roman:…No…A little…Let’s just start!


	24. Unhappy/Umbrella

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to develop this into full prose, but I honestly just didn’t have the time. Anyway, here’s another story in a scene format:

(Patton’s out in the yard working on his wheelbarrow garden)

(Roman emerges from the house in a tank top, workout shorts, a yoga mat and speakers for his smartphone)

Roman: Greetings Pat the Bunny, how does your garden grow?

Patton: It’s doing swell, Roman Lettuce. Are you growing your muscles today?

Roman: Oh you sweet precious puffball, you’re too much!

(Patton giggles)

Roman: But seriously Patton, do you mind if I play some tunes while I do some Pilates?

Patton: Not at all, kiddo, knock yourself out!

(Roman unrolls his mat and positions himself to get ready for The Hundred. His music starts playing)

(after a few minutes pass…)

Patton (softly at first, but then in full voice): 

When the sun shines, we shine together

Told you I’ll be here forever

Said I’ll always be your friend

Took an oath that I’m a stick it out ‘til the end

Roman (who has progressed to single legs stretches, joins in with a full belt):

Now that it’s raining more than ever

Know that we still have each other

You can stand under my umbrella

You can stand under my umbrella

Pat & Ro (like underage teenagers at a club): 

Ella, ella, eh, eh, eh!!!

Under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh!!!

(As if on cue, there’s the sound of thunder in the distance, which makes them both laugh. They keep singing and laughing because this moment is too magical. Who could be unhappy with such chance timing?)

Pat & Ro: 

It’s raining, raining!!!

Ooh, baby, it’s raining, raining!!!

(The patio door opens)

Logan: You are going to get sick if you continue with these outside shenanigans!

Patton: I won’t Logan!

Logan: That’s besides the point, Patton! Gentlemen, I insist that you bring your damp posteriors back indoors!

(Patton comes in sheepishly but with a smile on his face)

(Roman struts in looking like a hot mess and a half)

Roman: Hi Virgil!

Virgil: Hey idiot.

(Virgil scoffs from the couch, but he’s totally blushing at seeing Roman totally soaping wet)


	25. Pack/Pathetic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are three one shots of Patton and Virgil as kids together
> 
> If you want to read them in chronological order:
> 
> 1st-29 Little / Large
> 
> 2nd-25 Pack / Pathetic
> 
> 3rd-27 Karma / Kneel
> 
> For this one, Pack/Pathetic, please check the trigger warnings in the end notes

One of the worst days of Virgil’s life was the day Patton found out about his powers.

It really began in art class. It was near the end of their first week at the summer camp. While the other kids seemed to form packs of 3 or four, Virgil and Patton stuck to their dynamic duo and sat together by themselves at the smallest table. 

Virgil was drawing a fairly accurate representation of SpongeBob. He figured it wasn’t too hard, once he figured out the perspective of a basic cube shape, the rest of the porous character came pretty easily to him. 

Patton had decided to use the watercolor pencils to copy a Monet painting. That was putting it very, very kindly. The mess on his paper could perhaps abstractly be considering watery, at least, in the sense that he added water to the colored pencil marks. However, Patton then used some additional artistic interpretation and added what kind of sort of resembled a rainbow.

“Check it out, Virgil!” he exclaimed, proudly showing off his work to his new best friend. 

Virgil, for his part, gave a small side smile he hoped didn’t come off as too condescending. A four year old probably would have more technical ability with the paint brushes, but Patton looked so delighted with himself that it made his art look beautiful just by holding it.

Unfortunately, Virgil’s back was facing towards the middle of the classroom, which meant Patton’s display could also be seen by some of the other kids. One kid in particular, Brian, took complete advantage of the moment.

“Gay!” he shouted from his table while pointing at theirs, “the Hart kid’s so gay he drew a friggin’ rainbow!” The other kids at Brian’s table started laughing.

Virgil’s face flushed, the feeling coming on hot and fast. He certainly had his fair share of teasing and taunting directed his way, but this was different. This was Patton. They may not have known each other long, but at Brian’s outburst, Virgil stood up and was ready to punch a brat. Thankfully, the art counselor had no patience for bigotry from anyone, least of all from a prepubescent attacking their two secretly favorite students.

“Brian! Go to the admin’s office right now,” exclaimed Middy.

“But-”

“No ‘but’s’ about it mister! Now!” they said, leaving no room for argument whatsoever.

The boy groaned, but he did get up and head out to obey the teacher’s orders.

Virgil instinctively growled. Unfortunately, he also felt his vocal cords start acting up and slapped both hands over his mouth.

“Virgil, are you ok?” the teacher asked, clearly concerned.

“He needs to go to the bathroom, Middy!” Patton said quickly, “Can I go too?”

The art counselor nodded and gave both boys passes, but Virgil started running out the door faster than Patton.

This was bad. This was really really bad.

“Virgil wait!” he heard Patton cry behind him. “You’re scared, what’s wrong?”

Virgil had to get outside. Now.

He ran out to one of the building’s back exits and passed the perimeter of the child friendly obstacle course. He ran past the boundaries of the camp. He broke the rules even further by running off the building’s permit grounds. He had to though. He ran to fight the fear he felt choking his throat. He had to get into the woods. It was the only place where he could keep himself safe. 

He didn’t go too far. He stopped running and leaned his exhausted form against a tree. He could still see the main building of the camp, so he could easily return once his episode stopped.

He closed his eyes and started to breathe deeply-

“Virgil?”

“PATTON!” Virgil exclaimed, sure enough with his big voice. He slapped his hands over his mouth again. 

The little round boy with the round glasses looked at him with a cocked head. He definitely heard him and the reverb, but his expression was unreadable.

“PATTON” the scrawnier boy said as lowly as he could manage between his fingers “GO. NOT SAFE.”

“Virgil, are you different too? Is that why you’re so scared?”

That made him drop his hands. What was Patton talking about?

He was in such a state processing his friend’s words, Virgil didn’t notice the third boy until he started speaking.

“What’re you freaks doing here? You’re gonna get in even bigger trouble than me!”

It was Brian, the last person Virgil wanted to see right now. 

“Brian,” Patton asked softly, “Why are you so sad all the time?” 

Brian was shocked. He had spent all of 4th and 5th grade creating a reputation for himself to be the most popular kid in his class. He was cool, not sad. Only losers were sad. No one was supposed to see that he was sad.

“I know that’s why you were mean to me,” the smaller boy said in response to the bully’s silence, “I just wish I knew why?”

Patton took a step closer to Brian and Virgil was too paralyzed to stop him. He felt the familiar bubbling starting up inside him and needed to keep absolutely still.

What the little round boy saw when he got closer was visible just under the bully’s sleeves. Tiny little burn circles. And some of them looked fresh too.

“Oh!” Patton gasped, “I can fix those!” and started reaching out his small hand toward Brian’s bicep.

“Don’t touch me you fat faggot!” Brain screeched, and he shoved little Patton to the ground. 

It was at that moment that Virgil snapped. 

Patton had always been small for his age, and although he had more meat on his bones than Virgil, he was definitely shorter. He felt even smaller now while his eyes behind his round glasses got wider at the sight of Virgil getting bigger…and bigger…and bigger. 

As the size shifter grew, nearby branches and trees snapped at the pressure of his expanding mass. The sound of the snapping came on quickly, cracks and pops sounding at a rapid rate like popcorn. Virgil crouched over, but the ten year old’s enormous form still cast a large shadow over the two minuscule pre-teens beneath him. 

“You’re a monster” Brian breathed quietly.

“YEAH,” Virgil said, his reverb sinister and cold, “I AM.”

Brian gulped, then set his gaze hard at the giant. If this kid wasn’t such a jerk, and hadn’t just harmed his best friend, Virgil might have been impressed.

“I’m gonna tell,” Brian’s voice croaked, his own voice betraying his false confidence.

“WHO?” the monster said back to the poser “WHO’S GONNA BELIEVE YOU?”

Without warning, Virgil snatched Brian up completely in his hand. He lifted him in his grasp just a couple of feet off the ground-

-then Brian started to cry. 

And Virgil saw not a big bad bully, but a very scared pathetic little boy. 

To make matters worse, Virgil’s fingers were pressing directly against the burns Patton had just seen.

He really was a monster.

“Virgil,” he heard his friend below him say gently “put him down, he’s in pain.”

He obeyed Patton, loosened his grip, and carefully put Brian back on the ground. 

“Brian, can I see your burns please?” Patton asked, “I promised it won’t hurt anymore.”

The bully sniffed his tears back, but nodded.

Patton gingerly rolled up his sleeve for him. Even Virgil from his vantage point could see what was on the bigger kid’s arms; lots of little dots, the size of cigarette tips.

“Now I know you didn’t do this to yourself, kiddo” Patton said, sounding very paternal, in spite of being the shortest boy present. He started rubbing his hands over Brian’s burns, unfortunately very familiar with exactly what they were. Like magic, they disappeared.

“I’m sorry I can’t fix the old ones,” the little healer said sadly.

Brian was stunned into silence once again. For a moment, the sounds of nature surrounded them all like it was any other ordinary day.

Brian finally spoke up.

“I won’t tell” he said solemnly, and then started walking back to the main building they all had come from.

Now it was just Patton and the giant.

The giant who all at once burst into tears and started shrinking.

“YOU MUst hate me!” Virgil wailed, his voice changing back along with his previous size.

“Virgil!” Patton cried, “I don’t hate you at all! You’re just like me!”

“Patton, you’re like, a goddamn saint, and I’m the worst person on the planet!” 

“First of all,” Patton said with a tone that stopped Virgil’s tears in their tracks, “Language, young man! Second of all, if you keep talking bad about yourself, I’m going to physically fight you!” 

As if to drive his point home, the little healer jumped to hug the size shifter so hard they both nearly fell over backwards.

“I could never ever ever hate my best friend!” Patton declared with sincerity.

Virgil was about to hug back, the hints of a smirk forming at the corner of his mouth, but he stopped himself almost instantaneously. The image of him enveloping Brian in his hand made him hesitate. That’s when he suddenly remembered-

“Dude, he pushed you! Are you hurt?”

“Aw no, I’m fine kiddo,” Patton said with a smile, “I can only get hurt in my feelings!”

“And how are your feel-”

“Just fine!” Patton exclaimed, smiling brighter, although Virgil could swear it didn’t quite meet his eyes. 

But then his little round friend’s expression softened. “Let’s go back to class, Virgil. Brian was being honest, he won’t tell,” then he squeezed the size shifter’s hand “and I won’t either, I promise.”

The day continued relatively normally after that. Brian was true to his word, although he didn’t come back to the camp the next week. Or the week after that. Virgil had heard Brian’s parents had gotten a divorce and that the former bully and his mom had moved out of state. Patton found him on Facebook years later, in a wedding picture with a beautiful husband. He didn’t friend him, but it did make him smile to see that the kiddo turned out ok. 

Patton and Virgil’s friendship had survived its first test, but it was certainly not the last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings:  
> -Homophobia  
> -Fat Shaming  
> -Cigarettes  
> -Implied child abuse


	26. Crest/Collect

Patton: Watcha working on, buddy?

Logan: I’m drafting a collective bargaining agreement proposal for the Florida Education Association 

Patton: Oh! Sounds complicated

Virgil: Isn’t it basically just, give us more money?

Logan: While that’s a rather crass way to put it, Virgil, the issue at hand is that teachers are not being fairly compensated, if at all, for the hours they spend on their lesson planning or curriculum development.

Virgil: You mean you do all that for free?

Logan: As of now, yes.

Patton: But that’s not fair!

Logan: My sentiments exactly. Just because I enjoy the work does not mean my colleagues and I should be expected to-

(A dramatic scream is heard off in Roman’s room)

(Virgil rushes to check on him and returns done with it all)

Virgil: You guys know that toothpaste commercial audition Princey has tomorrow?

Patton: Yeah?

Virgil: He just swallowed a Crest White Strip


	27. Karma/Kneel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alternate Title: How the cookie crumbled…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are three one shots of Patton and Virgil as kids together
> 
> If you want to read them in chronological order:
> 
> 1st-29 Little / Large
> 
> 2nd-25 Pack / Pathetic
> 
> 3rd-27 Karma / Kneel

One of the great things about Virgil and Patton becoming friends was that it serendipitously worked out perfectly for carpooling. Kat Sanderson could drop Virgil and Patton off at camp before she headed to open the restaurant for the lunch shift, and Patty Hart was more than happy to pick the boys up and have them at her house until Kat’s dinner shift was over. More often than not, Virgil ended up spending the night on the weekends, but Miss Patty insisted that this was more than alright by her. Virgil was very polite, if a bit shy, but she was thrilled her little nephew had finally found a buddy.

If Virgil did spend the night on a Saturday, he would have to go to church with the Harts the following Sunday morning. It was on such a Saturday night that Patricia had volunteered to bake cookies for her Bible study group. They were out of the oven and into a Tupperware by 6pm, and the entire Hart household smelled absolutely amazing.

“Aunt Patty,” Patton couldn’t help but ask, “may we have some cookies, please?”

“Before dinner, kiddo? Pat Pat, you know better.”

To further solidify her stance, Patricia Hart pulled out her kitchen step ladder and made a point to place the pastries on the top cabinet shelf.

“I won’t be having you two growing boys getting your appetites spoiled,” she said, closing the step ladder with a click and placing it back in its usual spot. As if on cue, her cell phone rang. One of the church ladies had some juicy gossip and Aunt Patty excused herself from the kitchen to get all the details.

The boys continued watching TV in silence, but Patton couldn’t help sneaking a peak back at the cabinet. He wasn’t exactly subtle about it either.

“Pat,” Virgil asked, “Do you want me to get you a cookie?”

“Nah, Aunt Patty’s right,” Patton said with a smile that was just a little too bright for Virgil to take him seriously. “Besides, maybe we’ll get some after dinner.” 

It took the ten year old emo a moment to decide, but once he did, he stood up swiftly.

“What’re you-?” Patton asked, before being silenced by Virgil putting a finger over his lips with a smirk.

The skinnier pre-teen started tip toeing into the kitchen with the rounder one just behind him. Virgil was taller than both Patton and Miss Patty, but still too short to reach the cabinet on his own. He did eye the step ladder, but remembered the click it made once it locked into place. Even with Miss Patty chatting away on the phone, it was too risky to use it. 

Virgil looked down at Patton’s round hopeful bespectacled eyes. They’d come this far, there was no turning back from Operation Cookie Consumption now.

There really was only one option.

He over shot it a bit, but did manage not to hit his head on the ceiling. The size shifter easily grabbed the Tupperware and was about to pass it down to Patton-

“Virgil?!”

“SHIT!” the pre-teen exclaimed, and with his vocal reverb kicking in, he also unintentionally grew a few more feet to the point where he had to kneel on the kitchen tiles. 

Neither he nor Patton had told each other’s caregiver about the other’s respective powers, and this was absolutely the worst case scenario. Furthermore, Patricia Hart may have been small, but she was fierce. And right now, the plump little lady was pissed.

“There is no swearing in this house of Jesus, young man! You put those back this instant!” 

With a shaking hand, the giant placed the Tupperware back on the top shelf. He couldn’t stop trembling. A grown up had caught him like this. All of his fears came to the forefront of his mind. He screwed up, big time. 

This was karma punishing him for being a thief. He was never going to see Patton again.

“Aunt Patty, he’s scared” Patton whispered, with tears streaming down past his chin.

Patricia sighed. Before her were two kids reduced to shambles. Virgil was quivering like a cold bunny. Unfortunately, the bigger boy’s movements were also making objects in the kitchen rattle, including her overwhelmed nephew’s nerves. It was time for some damage control.

“Pat Pat,” she said with a softer tone “would you get my step ladder, please?”

The tiny boy sniffled, but nodded, a bit more at ease now that he had a task to do. With the ladder back in hand, the short matriarch clicked it into lock, and climbed up to be at level with the giant’s face. At least, she was at level with the hands covering his face. This boy was crying too.

“Honey, why don’t you also go and grab a towel from the bathroom?”

Patton obeyed, leaving Aunt Patty and the giant by themselves in the kitchen.

“Virgil, can you look at me?”

The boy shifted his fingers to reveal his big puffy brown eyes.

“Kiddo,” Patricia said kindly, “you’re safe here. I want to make sure you understand that. But we have rules that I expect you to follow the same as any other family member in this home. Is that clear?”

The giant nodded solemnly, just in time for Patton to return with a towel to pass up to his aunt, who in turn handed it to Virgil.

“Now, does your mama know about this?”

Virgil nodded again, rubbing his tear trails away with the large swath of terry cloth.

“Ok. Do you want me to tell her what happened today?”

The giant averted his eyes to tentatively shake his head.

“Alright then, I won’t.” Patty insisted, “but you should later, ok?”

“YES MA’AM,” Virgil rumbled as softly as he could.

The tiny woman gave a gentle smile as she climbed down the ladder.

“Boys, I made 30 cookies, there had better be at least 28 in that container when I bring them in tomorrow!”

Aunt Patty went back to her bedroom to give Patton and Virgil some time to cool down, especially for Virgil, who needed to shrink back down as well. The three of them ate dinner at 7 o’clock in a peaceful silence, until the boys insisted on doing the dishes before heading up to Patton’s room for the rest of the night. 

The next day, when Patricia counted her batch up, there were 29 intact individuals and a small scattering of crumbs. She couldn’t be certain, but her guess was they had decided to split just one cookie in half.


	28. Forget/Failure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Well, now that we have seen each other,” said the Unicorn, “If you’ll believe in me, I’ll believe in you. Is that a bargain?”  
> -Lewis Carroll

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember this for later, it’s coming back in the proper story...

The five and a day year old was taking small bites out of the peanut butter and Crofters sandwich Dr. Dixon had given him. She had already run some physical exams and telekinetic movement tests, so next up was his favorite part of the day: storytime with Liz.

Logan had small patches with wires taped to his temples to monitor his cognitive responses to a nearby machine. In spite of the technological elements, the boy and the intern were both seated on the floor in bean bags. Logan munched slowly on his triangle cut, savoring each bite of the sweet jam soaked bread. His posture was impeccable, especially in contrast to the casual college student lounging across from him. 

“You doing alright, Lolo?” the intern asked as she was finishing up the paperwork on her clipboard.

“My name is Logan, Liz, you know this,” the child said simply as he took another bite. He was nearing the end of his snack and he wanted to make it last as long as possible.

Liz, for her part, mock gasped “You mean now that you’re 5, you want to use your full name! Where did my precious baby go?!”

“I’m right here,” the child cocked his head with perplexity “and Liz, I haven’t been an infant since-”

“Honey, I’m just teasing you,” the psych student said with a smile, “and I won’t call you Lolo anymore if you don’t want me too”

Logan dropped his gaze. “Maybe, only Lolo sometimes…” he shoved the last piece of the sandwich into his mouth as an attempt to avoid her eye contact.

“We’ll figure it out,” the young woman replied with a wink, “and hey, I don’t think I forgot about your present, birthday boy”

Logan was too confused and curious to remind Liz that his birthday was in fact yesterday. Was the woman implying that she had purchased him a gift? 

Liz giggled at the expression on the little boy’s face and stood up to grab her backpack off the nearby countertop.

“You know how last week when we read Alice through the Looking Glass and you asked me if unicorns could exist in nature?”

The boy nodded as he stood up himself. He remembered the discussion distinctly. With Rhinoceroses and Narwhals in the world, it surely wasn’t too wildly implausible that a breed of horses could also possess a centralized singular horn.

“Well, I didn’t find one in nature,” the intern said, coyly hiding something behind her back “but I did find one at the toy store.”

With a small flourish, Liz produced a small fluffy unicorn stuffed animal. It had a creamy off white body and a sky blue mane and tail. It took Liz almost the whole week since their last session, but she had somehow managed to find one where both the hoofs and horns of the toy were made out of soft fabric. Logan was very sensitive to textures and she wanted to make sure this was something he could cuddle without irritation. 

The five year old’s eyes widened behind his glasses. All his toys at home were either brain games or apparatuses, tools for the purpose of his mental growth. He’d never been given something plushie before.

“Is this…” he asked tentatively, “is this for me?” 

“If you want it, it’s yours. Happy birthday!” Liz smiled and gently tossed it in the air. The unicorn floated for a moment, the energy from Logan’s little left hand keeping it suspended.

“I’m not good with hugs, Liz,” the child said softly “what if I do it wrong?”

It took every ounce of professional aptitude the intern had to not show a reaction to that. Here was a brilliant, gifted prodigy of a small person who was so scared of failure that he was worried about holding a toy wrong. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to punch Logan’s parents in their stupid smug cold faces first or scoop the little boy up and squeeze him until he finally felt the love he deserved. However, the first action would get her expelled, and the second might actually harm Logan’s nervous system, which she would never ever do. So instead, she knelt down to be at level with the skinny little bespectacled kid and gave him the kindest expression she could muster. 

“You can’t do it wrong, Lolo. I promise”

The boy did not correct her on his moniker. Instead, he allowed the stuffy to fall into his arms and gently cradled it while rubbing his fingers across its velvety underbelly. Every touch he initiated was done with the utmost care. However, the artificial animal was completely devoid of energy. Nothing buzzed, shocked, or pulsed. It was like a pillow, but with kind eyes and friend shaped. Logan finally pulled the toy closer to his chest and pressed it near to his heart.

The machine he was hooked up to was on silent, but the intern noticed that her charge’s dopamine and serotonin levels were at an all time high.

“Thank you” Logan whispered, not daring to speak any louder.

“You’re welcome, Logan” Liz whispered back. “Now,” she clapped, “Let’s see what happens to Alice next…”


	29. Little/Large

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are three one shots of Patton and Virgil as kids together
> 
> If you want to read them in chronological order:
> 
> 1st-29 Little / Large
> 
> 2nd-25 Pack / Pathetic
> 
> 3rd-27 Karma / Kneel

“It’s going to be just fine, Virgil. You may even make some new friends.”

The ten year old seriously doubted his mom’s words, but made no argument against them.

Him going was as much for his mom’s sake as it was for his. Mrs. Sanderson had finally gone from part time day server to full time beverage manager at the restaurant where she worked, and summer was the Florida establishment’s busiest season.

It meant they were finally able to move into a two bedroom apartment on the better side of town.

It also meant Virgil’s mom wouldn’t be able to stay home and watch her son.

Thankfully, her increased income also allowed her to enroll Virgil in this day camp. Nine hours a day of both indoor and outdoor extracurricular activities. The photos in the brochure were full of smiling preppy children who probably grew up going to private school. Virgil looked at those kids and didn’t see how he was possibly going to fit in.

As his mom pulled up to the parking lot, he saw what looked like one of those kids right away; a little round boy with even rounder large glasses, reddish auburn hair, and a huge wide grin. He looked like he could have been in a toothpaste commercial on the Disney Channel. It was a damn near textbook example of a prep school kid.

“Aunt Patty, everyone is so happy and excited!”, Virgil could hear the other boy announce even through his car window being closed. He was just so…perky.

It was Virgil’s own personal version of hell.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” he bluntly declared out loud.

“What?!” Mrs Sanderson said, “Virgil, are you about to have an episode? Sweetie we talked about this-”

“No Mom, I was joking!”

“It’s not a joke, Virgil I need to know right now if you’re-”

“Mom I’m FINE!” he slapped his hand over his mouth.

The reverb. It was back.

It had been a few months since the last time.

He had hoped it had finally disappeared like his baby teeth eventually did.

It was clear it had not.

His mom stared at him, hard and very concerned.

“Maybe this was a bad idea…”

Damn it, he had scared his mom again!

“No! Mommy-” Virgil cut himself off, he was 10 now, no one called their mother “mommy” at 10.

“Mom, I’m fine, I’m sorry,” he was not going to be responsible for his mom having to miss work. This was too important, he had to convince her, “I promise, I’m not sick. Everything’s going to be ok.”

Mrs. Sanderson’s look softened as she carefully wiped her son’s dark brown bangs out of his eyes.

“You tell the counselors to call me at the restaurant if you feel anything, alright?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Virgil replied obediently, the perfect child. The perfect, small, unassuming child who wasn’t going to be a burden to his mommy just because he had a pre-teen hissy fit and a giant freaking problem.

Satisfied with his answer, Mrs. Sanderson got out of the car and Virgil followed her lead. The little preppy boy and his equally small and round guardian were still in the parking lot. However, the expression behind the other child’s large round glasses had changed. He turned to look straight at Virgil.

For a brief horrifying moment, the size shifter feared his big voice must have been heard through the closed car doors.

However, the moment was gone as quickly as it came. Suddenly, the little round boy cheerfully bounded over to the scrawnier one.

“Hey there, I’m Patton! Don’t be scared, I’ll be your friend!”

“Alright kiddo, reign it in a bit, ok? You don’t wanna be overwhelming anyone,” the little plump woman only a few inches taller than her charge said.

“Hey y’all, I’m Patty and this is little rascal’s my nephew. How’re you doing today?”

“Just fine thanks.” Mrs Sanderson extended her hand to exchange pleasantries, “I’m Kat.”

“Your name is Kat?!” Patton gasped with excitement, “Do you have a cat too, Miss Kat?”

Mrs Sanderson chuckled, “Sorry Patton, I just have a Virgil.”

“What’s a Virgil?”

“I’m a Virgil,” the skinnier boy said, and then, without warning, mimicked an angry cat for emphasis, “Hisssss!”

“Virgil!” Mrs Sanderson chastised, absolutely exacerbated. Her son had a natural habit of deflecting people as his first response.

But to everyone’s surprise, Patton giggled.

“You’re so funny!”

Virgil was shocked. No one had ever called him funny. People said his name was funny before, sure, he’d dealt with that since kindergarten. But his joke being funny? The thing he wanted to be funny, someone else thought was funny? He didn’t know what to say.

“Uh, thanks bud, I guess”

Patton squealed loudly, just barely covered his hands over his face. “Does that mean we’re friends now?” he asked earnestly .

“Now Patton honey-”

“Sure!” Virgil exclaimed, shocking both his mom and Patton’s Aunt Patty.

“I’ll be your friend, Patton. Um,” he hesitated, “I don’t know if I’m really all that funny, but I’ll try.”

At that, the little round boy with the large round glasses grabbed Virgil’s hands and looked straight into his dark brown eyes.

“You don’t have to be anyone but yourself, Virgil.”

A few moments ago, Virgil would have told this kid that he was full of crap. But there was something in Patton’s honest and open expression that made Virgil believe what he was saying.

Surprising everyone, including himself, the skinny kid moved in to hug his newfound round friend.

Both adults were delighted and relieved, for reasons they did not share with each other until later. Nonetheless, Mrs. Sanderson and Aunt Patty did exchange phone numbers and chatted about a possible car pool schedule moving forward.

That’s not to say everything at camp went smoothly. In fact, one big, well, very big, incident occurred not too long thereafter. For now though, the two ten year old weirdos had just started the beginnings of their lifelong friendship.


End file.
